Stay Hungry My Friend

 Stay Hungry My Friend. Stay Hungry.

                   Hello and welcome to My Little House of Prayer. I am your host Dayla Smith. I am so glad that you could join me today. Today’s topic is Matthew 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread. You know, I think this one verse could preach for years to come and still preach some more. So far we have to create an atmosphere of prayer. We do a soul check and repent of any sin that we have committed. Ask for 

His forgiveness. Forgive those who have sinned against us. Then, we thank Him for His forgiveness. We must always come before Him with a Spirit of gratitude. We must acknowledge His holiness and His dwelling place. Then, he says to pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Acknowledge His dwelling place, His authority, and His will. Both in heaven and on earth. Now, He says to acknowledge His divine provision. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord is our provider.Genesis 22:1-14  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

                      I know that sometimes I have a long passage to read. I have a few reasons for this. I hate time out scriptures. I am not trying to manipulate them to fit my thoughts, choices and/or ideas. Nor am I trying to convince you of a particular thought, idea and/or choice. There are so many truths in the Lord’s Word. But, you have to have a full picture to get to them. You know. Like Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-12  7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

                        You see, He even tells of His provision right here. Did you know that the Lord’s provision depends totally on us? He set laws for it. When we don’t learn of those laws, we cannot access His full provision. So, if we are lacking, we need to read the Word of God so that we can learn what law we are not observing and applying to our lives. Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

                  So, even in His word He tells us how to truly live. That His word will provide for us. Even the gifts he gives us makes provision for us. Proverbs 18:16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

                     Isn’t that awesome. He has equipped us to prosper. 3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Corinthians 1:20For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

                   So, here is an example of His divine provision. How serious are we about serving Him who has redeemed us at all costs? Abraham showed just how serious He was. The Lord told Him to sacrifice His one and only son that the Lord gave him in his old age. This was as seriously sincere as it gets. You see, Sarah and Abraham were way too old biologically to keep producing children. And with them not getting younger, they were too old to continue to rear them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The Lord was always helping Abraham grow in faith. He was always creating miracles in Sarah and Abraham’s life. Isaac was just the icing on the cake. For God’s provision to work in our lives, we have to live a repentant lifestyle. We have to live a life that mirrors the example set by our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

                       You know, I heard this story a long while back. You may have heard it also. There was a gentleman who walked into this jewelry store. In the front of the store was all kinds of beautiful jewelry. But, there was no one in the front of the store.  He continued to look around. He finally saw something he just had to have. So, he waited for someone to come up front. After a while, he began to be concerned for the welfare of the owner. “Was he just robbed and 

possibly hurt.” he thought. This thought nagged at him. So, he hollered, “Hello! Is anyone here.” All of the sudden, he heard a voice from behind the curtain at the back of the store tell him to wait. At first, he was relieved to hear someone say to wait. That meant the owner was alright. So, he waited. After a while, he began to become aggravated. “How dare he tell me to wait. Doesn’t he know that I am a very busy man? Who does he think he is?” he thought. So, he walked to the back  of the store. He walked past the curtain. He saw a man standing over a pot that was sitting on a fire. He watched intently for a while. The man would stir the golden liquid every so often. Then, he would work with the fire. The gentleman looking on asked, “What are you doing? He told him, “I am purifying gold, or smelting gold.” “You can’t step away for a minute?” he asked. The man staring intently in the pot replied, “ No, I can’t. I can’t take my eyes off of this liquid for one second. The fire has to be just right. If it gets too hot, the heat will mar the gold. If it gets too cold, the impurities will remain.” “When do you know that it is finished?” The man replied, “When I see my reflection in  it.” This also reminds me of the song called "The Old Violin''.

                Needless to say, they both talk about the change Jesus Christ creates with your life. We have to live a submitted life in Christ in order to access the blessings and his provision.We must be Christ-like. Like the goldsmith, Jesus must see His reflection in us. And,  we must be willing to tell Him of our needs. Not because He doesn’t know about our needs. But, because it takes faith to believe that he is going to supply all of our needs for that day, and the days to come. Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

3 John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.      

Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

                            Jesus and Moses both said, “It is written. Man shall not live by bread alone. But, by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain. He stayed there forty days and nights. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days and nights. In both cases there was no food or water where they were at. And, it is in these places that they said, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone. How did they survive? The LORD provided their daily bread. They drank of the living water. They fed on the heavenly manna. Every word out of the mouth of God.

                    The Lord prepares a spiritual table for each and everyone of His people everyday. Only those who are truly hungry, will recognize and eat from His table. He truly is the ultimate chef. How do you get to eat from His spiritual table? Prayer. Fasting. And most important, read the Word of God! I can’t stress the importance of this. Along with repentance. Repentance opens the door to the kitchen of God. Prayer acknowledges His welcoming voice. Fasting opens our ears to hear what He is trying to speak to our hearts. The bible or word of God is the feast He has set before you. So, stay hungry. Let’s hunger more for the things of God. This world is fleeting. But our spiritual destiny is eternal. His daily bread is a road map home. Home with Him. 

            So, stay hungry my friend. Ask Him for His daily bread for you each and every day. Remember Jesus said in the beatitudes, Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Do you want to be filled? Remember the woman at the well?John 4:10-14  10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

         In order to get to the daily bread, we have to hunger and thirst after righteousness. We have to get our lives in order. We all have to remember and know that we are a sinner in need of a savior. Ask and thank Him for His daily bread. 

                 If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Let me introduce you to Him. It is really simple. First you must acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a savior according to the mirror of the law of the Lord. Ask Him for His forgiveness for all of your sins and call them out to Him. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Then, forgive those who have sinned or transgressed against you. Then, repent. Repent means to change your mind concerning sinful habits. Change your choice making. Let Him influence your choice making decisions as you get in His Holy Word. Ask Him to be Lord over your life. I want to pray this prayer with you. But, this is just an outline. The real work begins after I pray with you because it is a very personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 

                    Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

               For those of you who have made the decision to follow Christ. To make Him Lord and Savior over your life, let me welcome you to the family of God. All of heaven is rejoicing now. I am just as excited over your decision today. Please let me know of your decision by emailing me at my1littleafmp@aol.com or private messaging me. Let me know of any prayer requests you have so that I can pray with you. Remember, I love you with the love of the Lord, but Jesus will always love you more.